Talking about the taste of food 1 — Cultural note


នៅពេលមានអ្នកសួរអ្នកថាម្ហូបដែលគេធ្វើនោះឆ្ងាញ់អត់ អ្នកត្រូវប្រយ័ត្នក្នុងការនិយាយថាឆ្ងាញ់ព្រោះនៅពេលអ្នកនិយាយថាឆ្ងាញ់!” ឆ្ងាញ់អា៎!” មានន័យថា ឆ្ងាញ់មែនទែនមិនកុហកតែបើអ្នកនិយាយថាឆ្ងាញ់តាស!” មានន័យថាឆ្ងាញ់ល្មម អ្នកសួរអាចគិតថាអ្នកកំពុងនិយាយកុហកហើយបើអ្នកនិយាយថាឆ្ងាញ់តាស មានអី!” អ្នកសួរកាន់តែសង្ស័យថាអ្នកកំពុងនិយាយកុហក

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KhmerPronunciationEnglish/Notes
នៅ nɨv 1. in, at
2. to be located at, to live in or at, to reside, to stay, to be in
3. still, yet (pre-verbal marker of a durative or continuative aspect, as a final particle in the tag question ហើយឬនៅ it means 'yet' and as a reply to a question of this kind, it means 'not yet') {ញ៉ាំអីហើយនៅ? = Have you eaten already?}
ពេល peel 1. time
2. moment, instant, period of time
មាន mien 1. to have, possess, own
2. to exist, there is, there are
3. to be rich, own property
4. indicates the accomplishment of an action, to happen to, to have occasion to
Notes: in spoken Khmer, negated មាន (មិនមាន or គ្មាន) can be contracted into មាន, e.g., មានអ្នកណាចង់ជួបឯង = ‘there's nobody who wants to meet you’ — contrast this with the affirmative: មានគេចង់ជួបឯង = ‘there’s somebody who wants to meet you’
អ្នក neak 1. you (to equals of both sexes)
2. person, one who... (used as an agentive particle to create nouns from predicatives)
សួរ suə 1. to ask, question, enquire
2. to visit, come to see
ថា tʰaa 1. to say, tell, pronounce
2. that (introduces a question or indirect discourse)
3. I've [just] said, [...]
ម្ហូប mhoup food, meal
ដែល dael 1. who, whom, which, where, when
2. of/to/in/at which/whom
3. the fact/reason that
4. ever, happened to, having done at least once, having been to, already, always, had occasion to, have ever {អត់ដែលដឹងសោះ = I’ve never known this!}
គេ kee 1. he, she
2. one, someone
3. other(s)
ធ្វើ tvəə 1. to do, to make, to work, to prepare
2. to cultivate (a field) {ធ្វើស្រែ = to work in a rice field, be a farmer, grow rice}
នោះ nuh 1. that, those (often serves simply to emphasize something already referred to or something distant in time or space)
2. then
ឆ្ងាញ់ cŋaɲ tasty, delicious
អត់ ʔɑt 1. no, not
2. to be without, lacking
3. to restrain oneself, abstain from
4. particle to form yes/no questions
ត្រូវ trəv 1. must, have to
2. to be correct, right, proper, exact, accurate
3. to concern, have to do with, to agree/jibe with, coincide with
4. to be affected with/by, to suffer, undergo (ត្រូវ + CLAUSE marks a passive-like construction in which the subject of the clause introduced by ត្រូវ is translated as the agent in the passive construction)
ប្រយ័ត្ន prɑyat careful, to take care
ក្នុង knoŋ 1. in, inside
2. during + (time word)
ការ kaa 1. commonly occurs as a nominalizing particle deriving abstract nouns or noun phrases from verbs or verb phrases
2. work, occupation
3. business, affair, matter
4. to protect, defend, prevent
5. to marry
6. marriage
7. wedding
8. interest (e.g., on a loan)
9. profit
10. usury
11. to wind (into a skein/bobbin/reel)
12. to spin (silk)
និយាយ niʔyiey to speak, say, talk, relate, tell, to narrate, to talk over, discuss
ព្រោះ prʊəh because (of), since
rɨɨ 1. or
2. phrase-final interrogative particle {មិនមែនឬ = Isn't it true?}
អា៎ ʔaa 1. final particle used for emphasis {ខ្ញុំសង្ឃឹមថាឈ្នះហើយហ្នឹងអា៎ = I had hoped they would win!} {សៀវភៅចាស់ៗហ្នឹងអា៎ = Just old books!} {ម្នាក់ឯងធ្ងន់អា៎ = It's too heavy for one alone!} {ម៉ោពិសាសិនម៉ោបង មានច្រើនអា៎ = Come and eat, there's more than enough!}
2. spoken form of ហើយ {អស់ចាខ្វៃអា៎? = You don't have any youtiao anymore?}
3. spoken form of ណាស់ = very, very much {ខ្ញុំឃ្លានអា៎ = I’m very hungry}
4. spoken form of ណា = particle to soften a statement, command or request
មានន័យ mien ney to mean
មែនទែន mɛɛn tɛɛn 1. really, truly, surely, in fact, as it should be, certainly
2. seriously, actually
មិន mɨn negative particle not, non- (usually requires the final particle ទេ)
កុហក koʔhɑk 1. to lie
2. to be false, untrue
3. lie
តែ tae 1. but, however
2. only, just
3. tea
បើ baə 1. if, may be
2. although
តាស taah 1. particle in final position when giving a positive answer to a yes/no question {កន្លែងនេះអង្គុយបានអេ៎? ចា៎ស បានតាស។ = Can I sit here? Sure!}
2. particle in final position used to affirm the preceding {ល្អតាស! = Sounds good!}
3. particle in final position after a negative response: expresses that the preceding is a correction of what the other person has said {ធារីមែន? អត់ទេ ខ្ញុំកញ្ញាតាស។ = You’re ធារី, right? No, I’m កញ្ញា!} {ឯងទៅសាលាមែន? អត់ទេ ខ្ញុំទៅផ្សារតាស។ = You’re going to school, right? No, I’m going to the market!}
Notes: colloquial; spoken form of ទេតើ
ល្មម lmɔɔm 1. to be (just) enough, adequate, sufficient, just right, moderate
2. worthy
3. quite, rather, sufficiently
4. at the same time, just in time
5. coincidentally, about time
អាច ʔaac 1. to be able/qualified (to do something), capable of (doing something)
2. to be possible
3. to be in condition (to), be in a position (to)
4. to dare to
គិត kɨt 1. to think, to realize
2. to calculate
3. to charge
4. គិត ... ឃើញ = to find a solution, figure out, solve
5. to come to a conclusion, realize, understand
កំពុង kɑmpuŋ to be in the process of (doing something)
ហើយ haǝy 1. to be finished, ended, completed
2. enough!
3. final particle indicating completed action, already, by now
4. in a future context indicates action that will be completed at some future time
5. and, afterwards, next, then, after that
មានអី mien ʔəy 1. what things, why not, of course, O.K., all right, yeah, well...
2. you're welcome
3. but, however (contrasts one statement with another)
4. no problem
Notes: colloquial
កាន់តែ kan tae more and more, further, becoming more and more, increasingly, continually
សង្ស័យ sɑŋsay 1. to suspect, doubt, wonder about
2. to be suspicious, skeptical
3. doubt